2011 NHL Western Conference Finals Preview
The Eastern Conference Finals kicked off last night with the fifth seeded Tampa Bay Lightning knocking off the third seed Boston Bruins in Boston. Check out the preview for it here. Tonight, the President’s Trophy winning Vancouver Canucks host the second seeded San Jose Sharks in the first game of the Western Conference Finals. On the line for these four teams is a chance to continue the dream: chasing the Stanley Cup. Find out who to watch, what to watch for, who has the advantages, and more, all after the jump.
Bryan Vickroy
#2 SAN JOSE SHARKS vs #1 VANCOUVER CANUCKS
Game 1: 5/15 @VAN
Game 2: 5/18 @VAN
Game 3: 5/20 @SJ
Game 4: 5/22 @SJ
Game 5: 5/24 @VAN*
Game 6: 5/26 @SJ*
Game 7: 5/28 @VAN*
*if necessary
Offense
Both of these teams are stacked up and down each forward unit. Both teams are deep, fast, and can move the puck like magicians. The Canucks have the Sedin twins acting as one every shift on the ice, and then punish teams with players like Ryan Kesler and Alex Burrows. The Sharks have developed a fantastic group of young homegrown players like Joe Pavelski and Logan Couture to go with veterans like Joe Thorton and Dany Heatley. These units are about as evenly matched as you could be, but the Sharks might have the league’s best emerging finisher in Pavelski. Advantage: Sharks
Defense
The Canucks defensive corps is deep, but has struggled at times to stay both health, and relevant in games. They can contribute points from the blue line, but sometimes lose focus of their defensive responsibilities in pursuit of offense. Vancouver has given up the fewest shots per game this postseason, and have some of the game’s best two way forwards in Kesler & Co. The Sharks defensive unit isn’t as flashy or fast, but they are willing to throw the body around and intimidate their opponents. Dan Boyle and Douglas Murray lead this veteran group who isn’t particularly offensively gifted, but has been known to score goals at the right time. Advantage: Canucks
Goaltending
The Canucks’ Roberto Luongo may have an Olympic gold medal, but San Jose’s Antti Niemi is the only goalie left in the playoffs who has won a Stanley Cup. Luongo has been questioned his entire career whether he can win important games and not meltdown in crunch time. Niemi is a reigning Cup champion, and showed last year he can do what it takes to get the job done. While Luongo has had the longer career and shown the skills to be called one of the game’s greatest netminders, he still hasn’t shown that he can shine brightest when the games become hardest. People questioned Niemi last season, and all he did was go out an win a Cup. He looks to be in the same for he was last spring, which could be trouble for the Canucks. Advantage: Sharks
Coaching
Alain Vigneault has led the Canucks to the President’s Trophy, and as deep as this generation of Vancouver skaters have ever been on. He has his team playing strong, two way hockey, and after erasing the ghosts of the Chicago Blackhawks, Vancouver looks like the team who everybody thought would win the Cup at the beginning of the year. Despite his odd choice of starting Corey Schneider in Game 6 against Chicago, Vigneault has been very steady and quite, probably a good thing if you’re a Canucks fan. Sharks head coach Todd McLellan has been a winner wherever he has coached, and has taken a usually turbulent and moody roster and seems to have kept them even keel throughout this season, even when it looked like the end of the world in the Red Wings series. If McLellan can use their near death experience of the last round as a teaching tool, the Sharks might be able to continue their winning ways. Advantage: Canucks
Special Teams
The Canucks power play is second to only Tampa Bay this postseason, while the Sharks usually dominant power play has not been as good as usual up to this date. Both teams have two legitimate units that they can wear opposing killers down with. The Sharks won every game in which they scored a power play goal against Detroit, and lost each game they didn’t convert on the man advantage. Vancouver’s Ryan Kesler might be the best player in the league and utilizing a man advantage for his benefit. Both teams can also go long stretches without giving up a goal on the penalty kill. San Jose stopped fifteen straight against the Red Wings, while Vancouver stopped 20 of 21 Nashville power plays. Whichever team can get the most puck movement, and actually take shots on net will have the upper hand. Advantage: Canucks
Intangibles
The two teams have spent the last few season giving away opportunity after opportunity to win a championship. Now that both teams are playing in the Western Conference Finals, it almost seems impossible for either team to actually advance onward. The Canucks last skated for a Stanley Cup about 17 years ago, losing in an epic game against the New York Rangers. This is the 40th anniversary season for Vancouver. Forty years without a championship. San Jose has been around exactly half as long, but the Sharks have never been to a Stanley Cup Final before, but have become the model franchise on how an expansion team is supposed to properly evolve into a legitimate, year in, year out, contender. Each team has nearly blown a series after a 3-0, but managed to close out each series in the seventh games. Whichever team can keep their emotions and tempo the most level should prevail. Advantage: Canucks
Prediction
Whichever teams wins this series will finally gain some type of respect from the free world for finally achieving and reaching the Stanley Cup Final. The loser will be seen as choking away another year. Unfortunately, that’s the way it is when it comes to playoff hockey. Vancouver has been the team to beat all season and, save for a short stretch through the dark of winter, have shown that they deserve the title of NHL’s best team. The Sharks were left for dead by many, including myself, when they were floundering outside of the playoff picture, barely able to pull out wins. Now both teams stand four victories away from a Stanley Cup Finals berth. These two teams are about as equal as two rosters could be on paper. In the end, this series will come down to which team can employ its will and style on the other squad. With their offensive skill, and increasing defensive dominance, the Canucks look to have just the slightest overall edge. Canucks in 6
Bryan Vickroy has an addiction to hockey, and is willing to partake in all its forms. He is skating extra shifts for The Sports Bank, covering the Minnesota Wild, the NHL, and NCAA hockey all year long. Look for new articles throughout the week. He can be followed on Twitter at @bryanvickroy. If you’d prefer to speak in more than 140 characters at a time to him, he can be reached at bryan.vickroy@gmail.com .